Employer, Employee – Discography
“He’s stabbed a hole the size of Tennessee in the hull, and he exhibits no concern!”. These and other intriguing lyrics permeate the two “Employer, Employee” releases. A quick glance at the lyrical contents of these songs (gleaned by scouring various lyrics websites), you will quickly discover that the music does indeed possess a surprising poetic intensity, given the relative complexity of the vocals being screamed (which is somewhat ironic given that is hard to understand exactly what he is saying the first time around). Take another step back, and you will startle yourself that you have uncovered a hardcore band that, rather than presenting caustic social commentary or pure incomprehensibility, instead attacks you with a surprising amount of depth and complexity in it’s vitriolic attack. Intrigued, you investigate further…
Released early in the existence of Robodog Records (now more commonly known as Robotic Empire) in a limited edition of 1000 copies, their debut CD “Sic [Sic]” finds “Employer, Employee” playing a rather energetic form of hardcore, featuring screeching vocals (in keeping with the “metalcore” identification) with a relentless guitar and bass assault, kept in check by kinetic drumming. Most of the songs remain within 1:30 to 3:00 minutes, which is a good thing because they are still quite exhausting, even considering their short duration. Within the eighteen minutes of the album, vocalist Craig spastically shifts vocal styling, from intense screaming/screeching (which I assume is “metalcore” or “screamo” in nature….sheesh) to mid-range low growling and spoken word breaks. The music makes frequent structural changes, although they, upon observing the entire song, are a logical extension of the frequent evolution which occurs throughout a single song. I have read reviews that these changes are “less pretentious” than those structured by other bands, such as Dillinger Escape Plan, and while I do not quite understand what that is supposed to mean, I can at least understand how someone could reach that conclusion (read explanation above).
Meanwhile, the “Mother Spain And The Seafaring Myth” 7″, a devastatingly short nine minutes in length, almost outdoes their ‘full-length’ album. Despite the brevity of the album, the songs are much more clear on this recording. In particular, the drumming on “One Count Of Mutiny” is particularly impressive (as well as the off-the-wall shouting) while “Richard, My Love” breaks things up with a fast-forwarded orchestral segment. This record was also released in extremely limited quantities, this time on Relapse Records limited series.
As is typical for local area hardcore bands, there is virtually no information regarding “Employer, Employee” anywhere. At best, you will be lucky if you can find reviews of their album. However, various members from Employer, Employee still perform in the Austin, Texas area as Warwolf. This band is much like Employer, Employee, only it is much harder, faster, and thoughtful (if you can imagine it). Also, they are still performing occasionally in Austin, so if you are ever around the area, I encourage you to go check them out.
“Transactions receipts…make your life complete…”
PS Any help to find more online info on these guys or Warwolf (lyrics/bios mainly) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! 🙂
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John Lithium 
When Texas was a horseshit nightmare with no label attention Employer Employee, Garuda and Suburban Terror Project blazed the field. Now its a fucking label landgrab. leave the scene cities and get lynched